The Yangtse Chiang in its lower reaches is subject to great and rapid changes, of which little trace is evident to the eye after the lapse of a few years, though the depth of the river in many parts is 140 feet and more. One of the most notable instances is at Chin-Kiang. The earliest European travellers to Peking by the Grand Canal speak invariably of the city of Kua Chau, and only incidentally refer to the passage of the Yangtse Chiang. At present the nearest entrances to the northern and southern portions of the Grand Canal are miles apart; the passage between them, along the waters of the Yangtse Chiang, is often tedious and sometimes impracticable. But at the time the southern entrance to the canal was by a canal which ran between Chin-Kiang and the river, and debouched opposite Golden Island, which was within hailing distance of Kua Chau.
When our fleet ascended the Yangtse Chiang in 1842, it was to the south of this island that it passed. Now to the south of “the island” is cultivated land, studded with trees and villages, and the only existing canal south of Golden Island is so shallow as to be in winter not navigable even to boats. On the north of the so-called island (Golden Island) the city of Kua Chau has been completely engulfed, and even its north wall has long since been lost to sight.
The changes which are taking place in the lower reaches of the river, in the formation of islands and the alteration of channels, are on an even larger scale. One of the best-known instances is the island of Tsungming, near Shanghai, the population which rose from 12,700 families at the end of the Thirteenth Century to 89,000 at the beginning of the Eighteenth, and is now estimated at 1,150,000 souls.
The great river known to Europeans throughout its whole length as the Yangtse, or Yangtse Chiang, from the name which it bears on Chinese maps in its tidal portion only, undergoes many a change of name. In its higher waters in Tibet, the Murus, or Mur-usu, or Murui-osu (“Tortuous River”) joins the Napchitai-ulan-muren and Tokton-ai-ulan-muren, and below their confluence the river is known as the Dre-chu, or Di-chu, variations of which have reached us through different travellers in Bichu, Bicui, Brichu, and the Brius of Marco Polo. Its Tibetan name is Link-arab, and the Chinese name Tung-tien-ho. Where the river forms the boundary between Tibet and China, it is called by Chinese the Chin (or Kin) Sha Chiang, and by the Tibetans the N’geh-chu; near the confluence of the Yalung it is called the Pai-Shui-Chiang, or White Water River; and as far as Sui Fu (or Sii-chu Fu) the Chin Ho. In the gorges of Ichang it is the Ta-ch’a Ho (river of great débris). At Sha-shih it has the name of Ching Chiang, from Ching, an ancient Division of China, through which it passes. Below Hankau it is called the Chiang, Ch’ang Chiang (Long River) Ta Chiang, or Ta-Kuan-Chiang (Great Official River), and for the last two hundred miles of its course it appears as the Yangtse Chiang, a name which it gains from Yang, another of the ancient divisions of the empire, and which is still retained by Yang-chau-Fu.
The fall of the river is very rapid. Mr. Rockhill assigns an altitude of 13,000 feet to the place where he first crossed it, some distance below the junction of the Mur-usu with the Napchitai and Toktonai Rivers, and of 12,000 feet to the ferry where he recrossed it eighty-four miles lower down. From Batang (8,540 feet) to Wa-Wu, in Sze Chuen (1,900 feet), the fall was estimated by Mr. Baber at not less than eight feet per mile; thence to Huang-kuo-shu (1,200 feet) at six feet per mile; below this to Ping-shan (1,025 feet) about three feet; and from Ping-shan to Chung-Ching (630 feet) approximately nineteen inches, and in its lower course less than six inches. The fall between Chung-Ching and Ichang (129 feet) is about thirteen and a half inches; thence to Hankau (fifty-three feet) only two and a half inches, and from Hankau to the sea little more than one inch per mile.
THE THAMES
CHARLES DICKENS, JR.
Although scarcely any of the scenery of the Thames above Oxford is to be mentioned in the same breath with the beauties of Nuneham, of Henley, of Marlow, or of Cliveden, there is still much to attract the lover of nature who is content with quiet and pastoral landscapes and to whom the peaceful solitude through which the greater part of the journey lies, will have a peculiar charm. It is not advisable to take boat at Cricklade. For some distance below this little Wiltshire town the stream is narrow, and in dry seasons uncomfortably shallow. Travellers, therefore, who come to Cricklade, with the intention of seeing as much of the river as possible, may be recommended to take the very pretty walk of about ten miles along the towing-path of the Thames and Severn Canal to Lechlade. Here the river proper may be said to begin. Half a mile after leaving Lechlade on the right is St. John’s Lock with an average fall of three feet; and just below it is the St. John’s Bridge, with the Trout Inn on the left bank. For some distance below this stream is very narrow, and generally weedy; and, after passing Buscot Church, a couple of sharp turns brings us on the left to Buscot Lock. A couple of miles lower down is the little village of Eaton Hastings; Faringdon Hill, with its large clump of Scotch firs being a conspicuous object on the right bank and two miles further again is Radcot Bridge, distant from Oxford twenty-six miles. The next point is Old Man’s Bridge, twenty-five miles from Oxford, and after about two miles of rather monotonous travelling, we come sharp on the left to Rushy Lock and a mile further to Tadpole Bridge, twenty-two miles from Oxford, with the Trout Inn, a convenient place for luncheon. About a couple of miles from Tadpole is Ten Foot Bridge and a mile or so lower down are the village and ferry of Duxford. A mile or so below this there is considerable shoaling and half a mile further an island with Poplars, where the Berks bank should be followed. After making two or three bends, beyond this point, there is a prettily wooded bank on the right, and a short mile of capital water for rowing brings us to New Bridge from Oxford fifteen miles, which, notwithstanding its name, is of great antiquity. Another mile brings us to the bridge where was formerly Langley’s or Ridge’s Weir. About four and a half miles from New Bridge is Bablock Hithe Ferry, ten and a half miles from Oxford, below which there is a fine stream, the scenery becoming very good, with fine bold hills and the Earl of Abingdon’s woods at Wytham. After passing Skinner’s Weir, the river twists and turns about a good deal until we reach Pinkhill Lock, eight and a half miles from Oxford, with a fall of about three feet. Round a good many corners and rather more than a mile off is Eynsham Bridge. Good reaches for about three miles bring us to King’s Weir, sharp on the right, the stream to the left going to the Duke’s Lock, the junction with the Oxford Canal. Passing presently under Godstow Bridge, are seen the ruins of Godstow Nunnery and Godstow Lock, three and a half miles from Oxford, on leaving which a pretty view of the city is obtained. Three hundred yards further is Osney Lock. A little further is Folly Bridge, Oxford.
[Illustration: THE THAMES]
The towing-path after leaving Folly Bridge, Oxford, follows the right bank. On the left are the boat-rafts and the barges of the various colleges moored off Christ Church Meadows, where in the winter, after a flood, there is sometimes capital skating. About three-quarters of a mile from Folly Bridge are the long bridges across a backwater, which reënters the Thames--in this part of its course sometimes called the Isis--half a mile below Iffley. Half a mile below Iffley is the iron bridge of the Great Western Railway, from beneath which is a very pretty view of the spires of Oxford, particularly of the tower of Magdalen College. Along the left bank for some distance is one of those grand pieces of woodland scenery for which the Thames is so renowned. The woods extend as far as the iron railway bridge, after passing which the spire of Abingdon church appears above the trees to the right. Rather more than a mile below the cottages at Nuneham is the fall on the left where the old and present channels divide. Half a mile further and sharp to the left is Abingdon Lock, average fall six feet, from London 104½ miles, from Oxford seven and one-quarter miles. The river here runs through flat meadows. The view of Abingdon, with the spire of St. Helen’s, is very pretty. Culham Lock, a good stone lock with an average fall of seven feet; Clifton Lock with an average fall of three feet; and Days Lock with an average fall of four feet six inches, are passed. A little over a mile on the left bank is Dorchester with its famous abbey church. The footpath crosses the Roman remains known as The Dyke Hills. On Sinodun Hill on the right is a fine Roman camp. Below the ferry on the right is Bensington Lock, with an average fall of six feet six inches. The country from here to Wallingford is charmingly wooded.